These seven questions use original, invented diagrams and data. They follow the lessons in plate movement and tectonic processes and move from naming to explaining.
Write your own answer first, then open the explanation.
Questions
Question 1: Name the boundary in each: (a) arrows pointing away from each other, (b) arrows pointing towards each other, (c) arrows side by side in opposite directions.
Answer
(a) Divergent. (b) Convergent. (c) Transform. The arrow heads decide, not the labels.
Question 2: A diagram shows a deep trench with a line of volcanoes inland and an arrow pointing towards the land on the sea plate. Name the boundary and write a three-link explanation.
Answer
The boundary is convergent (ocean and continent).
The sea plate moves towards the land, so it converges. The dense sea plate is subducted, forming a trench where it bends down. As it sinks it melts, and the magma rises to form the volcanoes.
Question 3: Name the landform formed where two continental plates collide, and say why the crust folds rather than sinks.
Answer
Fold mountains. Continental crust is thick and light, so neither plate is dense enough to sink easily. The squeezing pushes the crust up and folds it.
Question 4: A table shows an earthquake at 40 km distance from a trench at a depth of 20 km, and another at 160 km distance at a depth of 80 km. Find how much the depth rises for each 1 km inland.
Answer
Distance rises by 160 − 40 = 120 km, and depth rises by 80 − 20 = 60 km.
60 ÷ 120 = 0.5 km of depth for every 1 km inland.
Question 5: A fence crosses a fault at a transform boundary. The two sides have slipped a total of 4.5 m, at 3 cm per year. For how many years has the slip been building?
Answer
4.5 m = 450 cm.
450 ÷ 3 = 150 years, assuming the slip rate stayed steady.
Question 6: Two plates move apart at 2 cm per year each. How far apart are they after 1 000 000 years?
Answer
Together they separate 2 + 2 = 4 cm per year.
4 × 1 000 000 = 4 000 000 cm = 40 000 m = 40 km.
Question 7: A classroom hazard map marks Zone A as high likelihood. A student says “Zone A will have an earthquake this month”. Correct the claim.
Answer
Corrected: “Zone A has a higher likelihood of earthquakes over a long period, based on the map’s records.”
The map shows relative likelihood and gives no timing, so it cannot support a claim about this month. Current safety decisions rely on official warnings.
If you got these wrong
Question 1 tests telling plate boundaries apart in diagrams. Questions 2, 3, 5 and 6 test linking a plate process to a landform. Question 4 tests explaining earthquake patterns from data. Question 7 tests separating a hazard model from a real forecast.
Log your slips in the mistake log and paper-error review. To go through them with a teacher, see online one-to-one Geography tuition.